How to make exercise enjoyable

kiiibbb112253
kiiibbb112253 Posts: 67 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I am a person who overall does not enjoy exercise. I can't go out and play tennis because I don't have a lot of time on my hands. The only thing I have is a stationary bike that I can use right before work starts. I listen to music, but that gets boring rather quickly. Do you guys have any ideas on how I could spice up my exercise?
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Replies

  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
    Get a tablet and watch videos, movies or tv shows?
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Try different things until you find something you enjoy
  • freehblee90
    freehblee90 Posts: 6 Member
    WATCH HORROR GAME PLAY THROUGH.
    when the player starts going oh *kitten* oh *kitten* oh *kitten*, you will find yourself saying the same thing and cycling faster. keeps your heart rate, keeps you stimulated. it has been the best thing for me.
    dont do it on treadmill. i almost fell from a jump scare and made a fool out of myself.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,040 Member
    Is your purpose of exercise directed at losing weight? Because you don't NEED to exercise to lose weight.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Find something you enjoy. I love kickboxing, swimming, weightlifting, and outdoor bootcamp style workouts. There are so many different forms of exercise, try different things until you find your passion, so you look forward to it.
    hesn92 wrote: »
    Try different things until you find something you enjoy

    ^ What they said.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    kiiibbb112253 wrote: »
    I am a person who overall does not enjoy exercise. I can't go out and play tennis because I don't have a lot of time on my hands. The only thing I have is a stationary bike that I can use right before work starts. I listen to music, but that gets boring rather quickly. Do you guys have any ideas on how I could spice up my exercise?

    I second, third or whatever finding something you actually enjoy.

    I have an exercise bike, I tend to do intervals on it as I find that more enjoyable than just pedalling... crank up the music and crank up the resistance!
  • AmandaDanceMore
    AmandaDanceMore Posts: 298 Member
    I find that when I think of exercise as "exercise" I get very bored and hate it. I seek out things to do that I enjoy, instead, that get my heart rate up. I love walking and especially hiking in the mountains. I love yoga (which isn't terribly strenuous but is better than sitting on your butt), and get my butt kicked at least once a week in my dance lessons with my coach (hoping I'll be able to dance that hard more than once a week soon). I do do a couple of days of things that are more like "exercise" but I've had to work to find something I don't mind doing. I also do it because it improves other things in my life that are important to me (strength training makes me a better dancer, or at least that's my theory, as I've just started a new program that I am enjoying). You have to like it OR have the personality to be able to slog through boring. I don't have that personality.....so it has to be enjoyable!
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    I have found I really like a variety of group fitness classes to hold me accountable and form a nice community. Good luck finding something you enjoy!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Find something you like so you will make time for it. Walk outside, hike, jog, cycle to work, leave the car/bus/train a few blocks away and walk from there, lift weights, swim, dance, play football, try martial arts and so on.
  • tri_bob
    tri_bob Posts: 121 Member
    Couldn't agree more with the general sentiment expressed above. It sounds almost too simple to say explicitly, but if you enjoy a given activity, you'll gravitate towards it because it's fun. The less you enjoy an activity, the more it will feel like "work," and the less likely you'll be to engage.

    I actually enjoy running, which I recognize as a character flaw. Because I dig it, though, I don't have to fight myself to go out for a run. I also regularly do Zumba. Because I enjoy dancing, Zumba classes feel less like an exercise I have to do to maintain fitness than like a fun way to spend an hour that, as a side effect, is a damned good workout.

    In my fitness tribe, however, I know a number of people who will gladly swim for hours, but for whom running is an activity best suited for those in the inner circles of hell. I'm also typically the only guy at Zumba. For whatever reasons, most guys wouldn't find it enjoyable. The most effective exercise regimen for you is the one that you will do. Figure out what that is, and do it. Do it enough, and it becomes a habit.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Try some group classes to see how you like that environment. Try different kinds of classes too.
  • Emily3907
    Emily3907 Posts: 1,461 Member
    For me, the key was starting with something I love. I bought a bike. That worked for a while, but deep down, what I really wanted to do was swim. I was nervous and didn't have the confidence to join a gym for access. I didn't have access to a pool year round, so I finally bit the bullet and joined a gym. It was like an epiphany for me.

    Once I started swimming, it opened up a whole new world for me regarding fitness and exercise. Now, I am getting into weights to supplement my swimming days. Swimming has become my "just for me" activity that I enjoy, find relaxing and it re-charges my soul. The weights are something that I always wanted to do, but didn't have the confidence to pursue. Once I shimmied my butt into a swimsuit and didn't die from public embarrassment, I decided that I could pursue the weights too.

    So, I say don't force yourself to do something you don't enjoy. Find something you love and just start, no matter how non-conventional. Do you love nature? Start hiking. Do you love the water? Start swimming. Do you enjoy a particular show? Make it a goal to only watch that show while you are on the stationary bike.

    If you really enjoy it, it won't feel like such a chore.
  • kristikitter
    kristikitter Posts: 602 Member
    Fitness classes are the magic key for me! Hate the gym, running is uncomfortable and lonely, not into biking. Fitness classes? I can dance! I can Spin! I can bounce on a mini trampoline!
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    EVERYONE HAS TIME! How bad do you want it? MAKE IT HAPPEN!.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Ride a bicycle to work. That way, it isn't "exercise" it is just part of your commute.
  • kiiibbb112253
    kiiibbb112253 Posts: 67 Member
    KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »
    EVERYONE HAS TIME! How bad do you want it? MAKE IT HAPPEN!.

    Lol not when you have a little girl with tennis lessons and a teenage son who is the drum major of his marching band.
  • beerfoamy
    beerfoamy Posts: 1,520 Member
    kristikitter wrote: »
    Fitness classes are the magic key for me! Hate the gym, running is uncomfortable and lonely, not into biking. Fitness classes? I can dance! I can Spin! I can bounce on a mini trampoline!

    ditto
    I punch invisible idiots and hit the floor with drumsticks! classes rule!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I love to exercise but my husband does not. What does he do? He knows that he is reaping many health benefits from it, and enhances his weight loss efforts when needed. Maybe too he is trying to keep up with me.. lol

    But in any regards, if you can't get past the idea that you hate purposeful exercise, try to look at it from your health and weight management stand point.

    I agree that doing something you can find some enjoyment factor in it will go a very long way.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    kiiibbb112253 wrote: »
    KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »
    EVERYONE HAS TIME! How bad do you want it? MAKE IT HAPPEN!.

    Lol not when you have a little girl with tennis lessons and a teenage son who is the drum major of his marching band.

    Sorry, poor excuse. Most recent US presidents have exercised on a regular basis. Are you busier than they were.

    How about working out at 5 AM? Doubt if tennis lessons or marching band activities going on then.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    Music helps I like running a lot more to Broadway show tunes for example
    Friends help ie walking or running or really anything with a friend
    Cooperative team sports add the friends and social life to exercise
  • Rufftimes
    Rufftimes Posts: 349 Member
    kiiibbb112253 wrote: »
    KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »
    EVERYONE HAS TIME! How bad do you want it? MAKE IT HAPPEN!.

    Lol not when you have a little girl with tennis lessons and a teenage son who is the drum major of his marching band.

    I have a 19 year old at home starting college this fall, a 13 year old who is in hockey and spends 4 days a week at the rink, and I work from 5 am until 5 pm four days a week. I still get in my 30 minute workout six days a week. 30 minutes isn't a long time, and after you do it for a bit, you start to find you're whole day gets easier

  • Rufftimes
    Rufftimes Posts: 349 Member
    Having said all that, I work out at home and it's the best decision I've ever made. Every lb lost and every gain made happened outside of a gym. I found with my gym memberships, it was too easy to say, "It's -40 out, I'm not getting in the car" or "I'm already running across town to go to hockey, I don't have time to get to the gym" And once you make that excuse once, it gets easier and easier to come up with another. Now no matter how busy my day is, when I finally plop on the couch and look at the TV, I tell myself, "It's only a half hour" and push play
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Just get out and do something.. keep trying options till you find something you enjoy. Try working out with a buddy... some people need an accountability partner.. some people need to train alone.

    Don't look at it as flailing, but as sampling... There's a million different things to try... once you find a fit, stick with it. and get organized.
  • vnsabrwn9
    vnsabrwn9 Posts: 7 Member
    I had a awesome time riding my bike yesterday. Beautiful day on Lake Michigan!
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
    Doesn't have to be "exercise". Can be any physical activity. Gardening, yard work, landscaping, window shopping, sight seeing... YOU have to find something you like, it's really hard to force yourself to like something you don't.
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